The Wichita State Shockers have lived up to their name so far in the 2011-12 men's college basketball season and now stand ready to prove their No. 16 ranking in the AP Top 25. At 27-5, the Shockers have put on quite a display so far, but they've had a hard time against ranked teams thus far, splitting the season series with Creighton and losing to then No. 15 Alabama.
As for their first round opponent, the Shockers hope to stave off the VCU Rams who landed the 12 seed in the South Regional. VCU finished 28-6 and 15-3 in the Colonial Athletic Conference. The Rams defeated Drexel in the CAA Tournament 59-56. VCU had a memorable run during last season's run to the Final Four.
Here's a look at the South Region of the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket:
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Mississippi Valley State/Western Kentucky (Thursday)
No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 UConn (Thursday)
No. 5 Wichita State vs. No. 12 VCU (Thursday)
No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 13 New Mexico State (Thursday)
No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Lehigh (Friday)
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Xavier (Friday)
No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 South Dakota State (Thursday)
No. 6 UNLV vs. No. 11 Colorado (Thursday)
For more on Wichita State, visit our team page. For more coverage of Wichita State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, visit SB Nation Kansas City. Click here for a link to our NCAA bracket 2012.